The otherness of the oceans

摘要

In 1913, the French essayist Marcel Proust mused that "in certain climes whole tracts of air or ocean are illuminated or scented by myriads of protozoa which we cannot see". Proust's reflections perhaps resulted from his hypochondriac perception that nature and his personal well-being were in conflict. A century later, anthropologist Stefan Helmreich examines in his new book how modern microbial oceanographers experience oceans and the diverse microbial communities that dwell within them. He proposes that microbial ocean life is 'alien' to wider society and that this 'otherness' shapes our stewardship of nature - or lack thereof.